I Can Live With Nothing
by LunesWraith
Summary: AU. When life hands you lemons, you give 'em back and demand somethin' better. Ed and Al are thieves living in the slums of Central, and wind up getting involved in the crisis threatening Amestris, against their better judgement. Parental!Roy Ed and Al.
1. Can You Live Without Money?

****

To get things straight, this is an AU of the original plot. Things still happen like in brotherhood, (Born in Resembool, everyone exists, The Promised Day, etc.) t's just a rewrite, kinda. Things are slow to begin with, I know, but it's just to set the scene. So there will be spoilers, and a lot of swearing in most chapters, but nothing too explicit. Oh, and there are no OC's, hooray.

* * *

_Can You Live Without Money?_

"The times are cold". Yeah so I've heard. Never mind the corrupt oppressive military, I'd like to see a shelter where I don't have to fear my throat getting cut in the middle of the night. Or at least an empty warehouse to sleep in, that _isn't_ already being used for a drug dealing organization, and wont use me as an unknowing drug mule.

Not that I fear anything, by the way.

Still, I'd like to see a guy make his way out of this dump, somewhere high, where we can't reach. Become a businessman, wear them smart suits like he knows what the fuck's going on in the world. I'd like to see a girl make her way out of a debt, get off the streets and get a job where she don't need to rely on her body to get a month's pay. Become a politician, drive those shiny cars like she can really make a difference in this god forsaken shit-hole.

But that just don't happen. If you're homeless, then you're the scum of the earth. They don't care what skills you got, what intelligence you have. To them, you aint _nothing._

So who can blame a guy for just going with it, he don't know nothin' else. He's been brought up on the streets, livin' like the animal he is. If he's quick, he's a pick-pocket. If he's cute, he's a beggar, or a whore. If he weak, he's a gang lackey. And if he's tough, he's a gang leader.

So, I bet you're wondering. What am I? Well me, I'm that type that don't belong in this hell. I'm intelligent, and I'm the type that slips through the holes, makes his way past the self pity and destruction, and I do something with what I was born with. I wouldn't know what to name it. The military call us 'thieves', but we go beyond that. And besides, the military call State Alchemists a service to the people, so what the fuck do they know?

Nah, we don't just steal. We take what you're good at, and we put it to use. We don't care who you are, what you've done, your age, your gender, your race, or your family. If you're in the slums, then you aint nothing, anyway. Why sort through shit and pretend like you're something better?

Of course, it all comes down to one thing, I suppose I'm even proving that walking into this bar. I put everyone to good use, but it all comes down to one thing. You can't get anywhere without it, and always end up here if you lose it. As I'm handing over these stolen jewels, and avoiding eye contact with the bartender, I'm knowing it all along. People kill, and people die, all for one thing. The thing I'm walking out of this place with in my pocket.

I'm Ed, by the way. But I pretend like I'm not, so don't freakin' say anything. Ed must have died a while ago, along with anyone who dares call me it. Whatever I was, in the slums I'm somethin' else. It strips you of you, and you live the way you have to, to survive.

I aint all bad, though. But when life hands you lemons, you give 'em back, and demand something better.

Family? You gotta be kiddin'. If they haven't died or left, then they don't exist. Besides, family don't mean nothin' either. I've seen some crazy shit, like this mother, abandoning her kid on the road, just for some food and a warm place to sleep. 'Cause some people think that's real funny, and when nobody aint looking, I show them what's funny, and they never laugh again.

Yeah, times are cold in these parts of Central. And you can't get nowhere, without money.

* * *

**Tell me what you think, and if there are any mistakes that shouldn't actually be there. Review! **


	2. Can You Live Without Friends?

_Can You Live Without Friends?_

So maybe I was wrong. Or maybe I wasn't, because I'm not usually wrong unless I'm freakin' out. But as far as I can tell, I'm not, so when this girl's telling me she can't get this delivery done until the military clears their shit, I'm pretty pissed off. When someone gets done in, and I mean somebody that matters, then the military get involved. When the military get involved, they block the streets and come sniffing around. When they're sniffing around, I can't get shit done, which means I can't get my money for deliveries.

So now I've got 10 crates of stolen military weapons hanging around headquarters, right under then noses of the most infamous criminals in Central.

"Listen to me Paninya. It don't matter how many thieves we got in this joint, that don't stop people tryin' their luck at nickin' my wares."

I don't like to think of them as 'stolen goods', I'm a business man, so I'm just selling my wares.

"I know, but we just can't move them yet-"

"Alright, shut your face, I'll do it myself." I can't stand their whining, they got the backbone of a fucking squid.

So that's how I end up running the operation, risking my skin and those I forced to come with me to get the job done. I got debts in all parts of Central, a few in the South and a big one in the West and in the North. I aint going near East, and I'm not tellin' you why, so fuck off.

Coming up round a courtyard with about 6 intersections, I spot the first blue lackey yellin' his face off and we duck back, tucking the crates into the shadows. My face is unsurprisingly not all that welcome, so I'm keeping well back. There's more of 'em, and a black-haired official walks out with an entourage of four, including an annoying guy bouncing around him. They walk up to the highest ground, up a path that leads to a pretty well-funded looking place that I once considered breaking into, and knock on the door.

Technically, the coast is clear, but I'm pretty curious about the military knocking on some rich guy's house. I mean it aint all that unusual, they're all rich bastards that know other rich bastards. But I had that place checked out, and it's just the house of some guy and his dog. I told the others to move on with Dolcetto in charge, because he can sniff out any military lot a mile away, and I go take a closer look.

The ground's easy to cover, and soon I'm separated from the group and nearing the soldiers. They're inside the house now, and I'm checkin' out the windows, crouching in the trees.

Holy shit! This freak's a State Alchemist, and so is the stupid-lookin' black-haired guy. I know alchemy. I mean it's my life, or it was. Or is, I can't tell. But anyway, this guy's getting it in the neck and the military are really looking to screw him over, and that's usually my job. But then they leave, and he's looking all depressed, so I see a business opportunity. After all, when people get depressed, they usually want a service, and I'm a man of the people.

I leap forward and break the window, landing on the ruined carpet smoothly. I can't help the flashy entrances.

"Argh! What are you doing? Get out of my house!" But apparently, he's not impressed.

"Alright, calm down, don't shit yourself." Why do they always freak out? At least listen first, jeez.

"I don't want anything to do with you. I know who you are, please leave."

"Yeah? Well then this gets easier, don't it? You got problems with the military, right? Well we all do, and I don't mind helpin' you out. 'Cause I'm a nice guy."

The man still looks scared, but so does everybody. It pisses me off, but I live with it.

He swallows. "My name is Shou Tucker, I-"

"Yeah spare me the crap, I don't care who you are. But you got money, right? And you got a problem too, right? You're a State Alchemist, you do the math."

He's taken aback, but says more confidently "Well you see, that's just the problem. But it's my problem, and breaking into my house and demanding things isn't going to help me any. So please leave."

I gotta admit, he kept more cool than most people when I crash their joint, but they don't refuse my help. And he does, and sometimes just surprisin' me lets them off, but I don't tell them that. Nah, instead, I scare them. So I wreck his glasses and fling him down, I don't break anything, though. State Alchemist, huh? I don't see you helpin' anybody, Tucker. I already had you checked out. You don't help nobody, just like the rest of 'em.

I get ready to mess his face up bad, but then I lose it.

"N-Nina….."

There's a kid, crying, and a dog howling. It aint the dog I'm fussed with, but the kid's got me wrapped up. She's standing in the doorway, staring at me with a watery, tear-stained face, and I'm a real monster. I knew he had a dog, but a little girl? There's somethin' about a helpless kid that gets me every time. The kid of a good-for-nothing State Alchemist, but a kid nonetheless, and she didn't do shit. Call me weak, or call me a coward, but I don't get somebody who haven't done nothin' wrong. Well, unless they piss me off, or I'm freakin' out.

So I just leave, walk right past the stupid girl, pick up an expensive looking vase, and shut the door behind me.

But the military were just checkin' him out, there's no body, which means whatever this is, it isn't what's holding up my delivery transaction. Still, turns out my people got busted, and my stuff got jacked.

They got arrested, and are being held at Central HQ. My stuff got jacked too, right? And it's also being held at Central HQ. Which means things get sticky, because now I'm tracking over roofs trying to get to their headquarters, and this just aint my territory. And I mean it really aint, and he's not gonna like me trespassing. Never mind the fact that I'm right up the ass of the military base, but I have to watch my back to not get stabbed, too. There's boundaries, and this is where I cross them.

Coming up around the front, leaning over the edge of a roof, I spot the black-haired guy and his entourage from earlier again. They're not doing anything special, and soon they're gone. But then I spot Paninya, Dolcetto and the rest, cuffed up and being led inside. Now normally I think, 'fuck it, I can replace them'. But I don't like losing my people, and these are some of my best, and some I forced to join my little business. And getting nicked for a business you never wanted to be in in the first place don't sit right with me. Call me weak, but I got standards with my people, and they got standards with me.

No time to call somebody, and I doubt someone would help me in these parts anyway, so I drop down and get my ass over there. Military buildings are a bitch to climb, but I'm halfway up now, looking for a weak spot to break in. I'm crazy, but I'm not risking breaking through the entrance just for this. Eventually I find one, the window clicks under the lock pick, and I slide through. Boring papers and filing cabinets fill the room, so I leave.

Big mistake. I'm smack bang in the middle of someone's office, holding a vase and coming out of a filing room. Why, why the fuck didn't I check these windows too? Or at least listen through the door. They aint impressed either, and lo and behold, the black-haired guy is here too, lookin' pretty pissed. Oh, shit.

* * *

"What the hell…?" Breda mutters. It had been a pretty normal day so far, only 15 minutes until they leave work. But then they hadn't been expecting a known criminal to come rushing out the storage room.

Hawkeye reacts first, and pulls her gun swiftly on him.

"Don't move, Elric."

Mustang pulls on his gloves, he had been waiting for an opportunity to catch the infamous thief for a while now, and the kid literally walks right into his office. Holding a vase, no less.

Standing, he cautiously turns towards him, watching the way his gold eyes dart around like a trapped animal, calculating. In all honesty, he doesn't know much about him, and had only just taken up the idea of catching him. He had no idea he was in way over his head.

Falman, Breda and Havoc close the quarter circle, and Elric stands in the corner.

No one moves, and awkwardly, Mustang says "Put down the vase, Elric".

His gold eyes jerk in his direction, and like a feral animal, he bares his teeth and laughs. The imitation is too good, and Mustang resists a shiver. The kid really creeps him out. But he relaxes instead, and spins the vase in his hands, watching them all casually.

"Shou Tucker, huh? What's his story then?" Elric says.

"Tucker? How do you know him?" Mustang replies calmly. They would need to alert authorities soon, just in case he tries something.

He snarls back "I got my ways, Roy. You know me."

He shocked, how the hell does this kid know him, too? But then it couldn't be too difficult, he's a thief, head of his own organisation.

"Do I, Elric? I'd say the stories are just a bit exaggerated, you are just a kid, after all."

He hisses. He actually _hisses_, and this time Mustang does shiver. "Yeah, I guess I am, but you don't match up to what I've heard either. Hero of Ishval, tell me, is there good business in mass genocide? 'Cause I was thinkin' of looking into it."

Hawkeye shoots, and it passes far above Elric's head. After a moment of delayed worry passes his face, he smirks.

"That's my warning. Come quietly or next time I wont miss."

Mustang knows she's bluffing, even she wouldn't shoot a child, criminal or no. Unfortunately, Elric can tell too, and he laughs again.

"How about, let me go quietly, and I might decide you get to sleep with your throats intact tonight?"

He has no idea whether he can pull that one off, he curses the fact he didn't look into the kid, and decides to call his bluff. With a snap of the fingers he blasts the ground apart at Elric's feet and he goes flying, jumping out of harm's way. _Damn, he's fast._

The office scrambles to get to him, but the smoke is thick and they aren't used to chasing a criminal in their own quarters. In the end, it doesn't matter, because as the smoke clears, a coughing and blood-stained Elric is revealed, sprawled across the carpet with the vase rolling away. Immediately they're on him, but seconds away from handcuffing him, he pulls a fast one. Clapping his hands, he slams them to the ground and a force blasts them back.

Elric's still coughing up blood and clutching his heart with a pained expression, but he makes a break for the window and actually smashes right through it. From two floors off the ground, Mustang watches as Elric claps again and lands safely at the ground. Mouth ajar, he witnesses a famous criminal walk straight out of Military headquarters after being right in the middle of his own office. And he wanted a promotion.

"Sir?" Hawkeye again is the first to react.

"Alert Hughes. Get a team together." He says weakly.

Havoc walks over and stands next to him, watching Elric dematerialize into the shadows of the streets below. "What do you think he wanted?"

He frowns, he couldn't recall anything spectacular happening that day. Shou Tucker? Or was that just Elric's way of trying to freak them out, by knowing where he had been that day? He shakes his head.

"No idea."

* * *

Dammit, this is what I get for trying to help them assholes out. Why can't they just not be useless and help themselves? But no, I have to do everything my fucking self. and look where it got me. There's no use in lookin' out for someone else, they'll always screw you over. So I'm leavin' 'em there, they got caught, they can do time- not me.

Stumbling over to a dark alley, I cough into my hand and blood soaks it. I wipe it on my trouser leg, and push my way forward.

Fuckin' military and their shitty guns and alchemy. Almost killed me…

I hold a hand against a wall, and heave until my guts spill out over the floor. Well, hardly my guts, but a whole bunch of blood, and- shit, a penny too. I pick it up and wipe it, then pocket it. No sense wastin' money.

But then I am in a world of shit, 'cause a hand grabs my throat and hauls me backwards. Before I can even choke out a bloodstained breath, I'm pulled down into the grating behind some wooden barrels and into the sewers below. There's some walking, then I'm truly fucked, because my stupid heart can't take it. And I pass out, right there.

Waking up some time later, I'm staring into the mug of some ugly sod. He grins and walks off.

"It's awake, sir. Should I just kill him now?"

It?

"Fuck you, too…" I can barely croak, but it gets his attention. I'm struck square in the face, then dragged off into the room he was talking into. If I had just rescued them useless idiots properly, I wouldn't be in this situation. Ok, so maybe I did just leave them to the military, but I would have died otherwise. Although, looking at where I am and the state I'm in, I probably still will. Fucking heart, the useless shit.

So here I am, on my knees in the His territory, pretty screwed and with no one to help me. I suppose I asked for it, I got loyalty, but nothing beyond that. How can I, living in the slums? It's survival of the fittest.

But that don't matter now, I gotta look at Him sometime. But you see, I'm a pretty stubborn guy, so I just stare a the ground beneath his feet. That's worse really, but who cares?

Well He does apparently, he's lost patience since the last time I saw him, and he grabs me by the scruff of my dirty neck and pulls me to my feet.

Nope, you can't get nowhere without them, and you get into real shit if you abandon them. But it's too late for friends now.

I stare up from the ground and look into those eyes that haunt me, with a smirk.

"Good to see you again, Brother."

* * *

**So I suppose that answers your question ^.^ There's alot of slang in these chapters, so if you don't understand, review it with your quesion so I can explain. Review!**

**And thank you to those who reviewed last time, much appreciated as it was only a small chapter :D**


	3. Can You Live Without Help?

_Can You Live Without Help?_

Sometimes I just gotta learn to shut the hell up, 'cause I just keep pissin' people off.

He glared at me in disgust. Nothing unusual, but somehow I just didn't like the way it seemed so easy on his face. Like freakin' nature. But that's not so bad, I mean, there's plenty of people who hate me- and they got good reason for it. But I dunno, right now it makes me feel like I swallowed somethin' dirty, and I don't know why.

"I was hoping you had died by now," he speaks first.

I grin, "you know me; got a heart o' steel".

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief, and I saw some flicker of fear in his eyes. I'm used to it, so I play it as I normally would.

"Nothin' can kill me, little brother. Not you, and not life." I'm grinning again, and with blood covering me and dripping out my hair, I'm looking just a bit deranged.

"You don't deserve to live; you're a sinner!" He just can't keep the emotion out, can he? He's way too kind to be in this type of business.

"Hey, we both sinned that day, I just gotta pay the price."

He's clenching his fists again and again, and lookin' as though he's unsure what to do. Damn, how the hell has he made it this far? One indecisive look and you're outta here; he's got to be well trained to get this big in the underworld. Hmm, maybe it's just me he can't take?

The thought makes me laugh, and then he does get angry. I can't take him seriously, and he punches me straight in the face. Blood spills across the room and I land in a heap, still laughin' my face off.

"Come on, brother! It aint me you're angry at! Hunt him down, and make him pay!" _I'm _the one angry now, just thinking about him makes my blood boil, and I spit venomously. I jump up and I try talkin' again.

"Al, listen-"

"Fuck off Just fuck off, alright?" Always with the irrational fear. He's pacing.

"Tch." I'm waiting for him to calm down, but I'm an impatient guy.

"It don't matter about me, right? I'm not here to fuck things up, it's just my people got caught and-"

In seconds he has me slammed against a wall by my throat, resolution in his gold eyes. So different. He's still struggling to speak though, so I pick up a tune and whistle.

"Shut up! I warned you four years ago the next time I saw you, I would make you pay!" He's trying for the tough act, but I just see the kid who cried when he dropped his slice of pie.

I give a wry smile, and say "Yeah, but you also said I wouldn't survive that long anyway, and here I am". I gesture sarcastically, and he throws me to the right, smashing my through tables and glass. Spitting my blood down my front, he drags me back up and knees me in the stomach, knocking my breath out.

It's funny how even though I'm not tied up or restrained at all, I'm not trying to fight back. It's probably just too funny to watch.

Too funny to laugh.

Next thing I'm lying at his feet, smirking again. Real pathetic. When the world goes blurry I can still always see the blood- it never moves. Always shining darkly in the night and in my dreams, I lick it from my lips and chuckle weakly.

It goes blurry again, and then we're outside. In the wide alleyway, the sunlight pours in and exposes my beaten state. Al still has a hold of me, and there's his bodyguards flankin' us as he punches my chest.

I'm still wonderin' why I'm not fighting at all, when I fall down against a rusty and broken fuse box. I laugh again, louder and hysterically, because the irony is that death is never right there in front of my face, just lurkin' round the corner. If I had known that I would have killed the bastard, but Death gets to me first; he always does. So Al kicks my chest hard, and I fall against the exposed broken wires, then feel the shock burn through me.

Distantly, I hear yelling voices growing louder, but right then my heart loses it and I seize up. Through the haze I see Al and his guys breakin' for it, while I lay there dyin' in an alley. Blue uniforms occupy the blank space, but I can still see blood. In my short moments of breath, I can't believe I actually had enough time to give one last hiccup of laughter, then pass out.

So maybe him and life can kill me, after all.

* * *

"_You have _got_ to be kidding me." _

"_No word of a lie, Hughes. He had an actual heart attack, and he's in Central Hospital now."_

"_The Amestris-renown murdering thief, Edward Elric, in a hospital. Roy, this has got to earn you a promotion."_

"_Yeah, you don't say. I was expecting some sort of chase through the streets of Central, but he fell right into our hands."_

"_Ha! Well he's your problem now! Still glad you got transferred to Central?"_

"_Yes, actually. Where better to make myself known?"_

"_Got your Hawks Eye with you?"_

"_Of course. And the team to help me."_

"_Well, I hope you're good with kids, Elric's only fifteen you know. Speaking of great with kids! Have you seen Elicia lately? I can't believe she can actually-"_

"_Hughes. There's a child-criminal in the hospital, here."_

"_Yes, yes, I'll be right there. But are you sure you don't wanna hear-"_

_*Click*_

Always with the incessant proud father routine. Hughes may be his best friend, but pretty soon he thinks he's going to have to have psychotherapy treatment to erase the word 'Elicia' from his mind, forever. Sighing, he rested his head on his clasped hands, and his mind wandered to the Fuhrer's latest talk with him.

Scar. The second famous criminal on his long list of problems. Recently, he's been hunting down well-known State Alchemists and killing them. Lumbered with two major criminals, the pressure of the Fuhrer himself, and not enough pay or free hours, makes for a bad day indeed. And now he has to visit a volatile teenager in hospital with a heart problem.

Well, at least Hughes will be there.

"Sir?" Hawkeye leans over slightly, looking at her superior.

Mustang leans back and nods, "I'm fine. Let's get going then."

The drive to the hospital was short, and Havoc filled the silence with several conversation starters. They mostly involved how he really doesn't want to go in with them, but with no reply it settled back to quiet with a few worried glances in the car mirror.

Making their way into the hospital and through the white corridors, the growing voices of a nurse and a very angry teenager became apparent. Reaching the open door, the trio looked in to see a man trying to calm down Elric, but failing and backing away slowly. They hadn't noticed them yet, and Elric snarled at the nurses and doctors trying to approach with a needle and outstretched palms. Before things got messy, Mustang entered the room and all eyes fell to him.

Elric said "What the hell do you want, Roy?", a rough smirk in place, and somehow still unnerving despite the weak voice and pale face. Where the hell was Hughes?

He replied levelly, "Give this up, Elric, you're caught. Do you want to die?" It was sarcastic, but the response he got chilled him. Cracked laughter, and a piercing gold stare that even his fire couldn't burn.

"Maybe. But not now, and not in some hospital in the middle of Shitville." Just a bit hypocritical coming from a slum dwelling thief, no?

Just in time, Hughes' jovial voice sounds in the corridor, greeting Havoc, and comes strolling into the tense atmosphere. Nurses and Doctors still poised for action, an antsy looking Mustang and a criminal like a feral animal crouching for the attack was the scene he encountered.

He says to Elric, "Ho, ho! What's going on here then, kid?"

Nicely done, Hughes, hide your discomfort by being friendly to a criminal. Real well done. Because Elric has been known to respond well to that.

But before he has a chance to, the doctor nearest him interrupts "Please, there is no time for military inquiry, this boy has a serious heart condition and we need to figure out-"

"No shit, fuck face. I think at some point I may have _just_ about realised that I have a heart problem. You can't help me, so don't bother." He seemed defensive about it, he's obviously spent some time worrying about it.

"Whoa, calm down there! If you let the doctors take a look, then maybe-" Hughes tried.

"Then maybe they can get their eyes gouged out and their face cut clean off." Elric interrupted with a grin, causing some of the doctors and nurses to back right off.

What is up with this kid?

Apparently they wouldn't be finding out, because just at that moment a loud crash sounded downstairs, followed by several screams of fear. Mustang and his team exchanged alarmed looks and they turned into the corridor. Mustang kept just inside the room, keeping a watchful eye on Elric. The doctors and nurses finally left, and Elric eyed the window, distracted.

Outside the corridor, a wall several paces away blasted itself apart, and a shadow of a figure appeared through the dust.

"I've come for the alchemist, to send him back to Ishvarla."

Mustang couldn't believe it, they just kept walking into him. Two in one day.

* * *

I couldn't care less who was breaking this place up, but they were creating a damn good diversion.

With Roy-boy distracted, I make a dash for the window and try to wrench it open. But it's stuck. I aint staying here just to die, I have to live dammit, and these dumbasses can't help me at all. Ignoring the fighting starting behind me, I clap my hands expertly together, and trash the lock big time. A bit of an overkill, but who cares? I kick the window open, and climb out onto the ledge just as a burst of alchemic sparks blast the room apart behind me. I'm breathing deeply.

Don't overwork yourself, dammit. Just a bit longer and I can get it fixed…

Sidling carefully, I gingerly make my way down to the ground. Just as I land, some guy comes jumping from the wrecked hospital window, and turns straight towards me. He has a 'X' shaped scar on his face, and he's looking all calm and awesome. But that aint my problem, and I make a break for it just as the battle continues with a burst of flames. Jogging carefully, I rasp out ragged breath and take a break, clutching my failing heart.

Come on, almost at the train station, she's just a bit South.

"Elric!" Roy's voice calls out from behind, and I turn to see he's escaped the battle and coming for me with his entourage- minus the blonde guy. Ah fuck it, why did they have to be the ones to survive?

I struggle to move quicker, but I know the faster I move the faster I'm gonna fall over and die. So I just try and walk away, but obviously they catch up, and I'm surrounded.

"Alright, alright, you caught me. Whoop-de-fuckin'-do. Good for you, you won fuck all," I say, still gasping for breath.

Roy and his stupid lookin' buddies look at me weirdly, and he speaks up.

"I'll make you a deal, Elric-"

"How about fuck no! I'm not striking' a deal with some bastard from the military!"

"Well, you're not really in much of a position to co-operate." He looked me over sceptically, taking in the many belts holding my bloodstained rags together. Judging bastard. Ill kill you first.

So he continues when I huff a stubborn sigh, "Just listen, we wont arrest you now. We'll get your heart treated-"

"And as soon as you do then you'll arrest me. Yeah. I'd rather die."

"No listen, Elric. We get your heart fixed, then we have a fair fight. If you lose, _then_ I'll arrest you."

"And if I win, I get to kill you."

"Er, I was thinking more of 'you get to go free', actually." I just love freakin' them out. Even military guys can't stand me.

But, he has trumped me this time. I'm still messed up from Al's beating, and I don't think I can even stay conscious for much longer. So I give in, I need their help. I guess I can just kill them all later. For now, I have to live.

"Fine, fuckface. Get me on a train to Rush Valley."

He looked confused. Fuckin' idiot. "Why?"

"'Cause that's where I can get treatment! Shut up, and just-"

* * *

Mustang stumbles forward in time to catch the fallen teen, and hands him to Hughes to carry. They nod to each other, and call for a car.

Hawkeye stands patiently, but she can't help asking, "Are you really going to keep to that deal, sir?"

"Yes". For now.

Hughes wrinkled his nose, "Ah, I still can't stand the smell of blood. And whatever that other stench is. Where the hell has this kid been, the sewers?"

"Who knows? I should have researched him before. I have to find out everything before this gets too complicated." Like where did he even come from? Where are his parents? Who beat him up? Actually, that one he doesn't really want to know. He is a thief after all, right in the heart of the underworld.

The thought makes him shiver. Were they going to get involved if they kept Elric? It was too dangerous, he was definitely going to get him treated. But after? He's going straight to jail.

The military car pulls up with a smoking Havoc inside. The three of them and an unconscious Elric enter the back of the car, and Mustang orders Havoc to take them to the station.

"Put out the cigarette Havoc, there's a kid here."

Havoc snorts. Much more confident now Elric's asleep, he notices. "So? I'm sure he's been around worse. Much worse", he adds with a disgruntled look at him. But he puts it out, and they arrive at the station. The tickets are bought, and they carry the boy into a deserted carriage to avoid stares. Once they are settled, Mustang breaths out heavily. Scar got away. Smashed apart the ground and escaped below into the sewers. He snorted; _tough luck getting through there_. There's said to be an organization of thieves using it as an underground passage. He gives Elric a wondering look. Could he..?

No need to think about it. They would find out everything as soon as he's better.

"Sir, did you bring...Sir, why have you got a vase?" He had taken it from the car on the way here, the one that Elric had left behind earlier that day.

He smirked, "Just returning it to Elric." She looked skeptical.

Havoc gives the kid a nervous look. "Is he alright?"

"He passed out again" Hawkeye replies, watching his sleeping face. Much more innocent, now. He actually finds it difficult to believe he's a thief when he rests so peacefully. Who was this kid?

Havoc leant over and pressed his ear to Elric's chest to check if he was okay. His faced screwed up, mouth opening slightly.

"Hmm?" Hughes sat up, watching.

"I think…" There was a pause, "I think I hear…metal ticking?"

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews :D Tell me what you think or what you don't understand, and review!**


	4. Can You Live Without a Heart?

_Can You Live Without a Heart?_

"_Don't be scared Al. Everything's perfect."_

_But it wasn't, and we didn't realise in time._

"_Let's go for it." _

_He nods despite fear, trusting me completely. Our hands slap the ground beneath us, and the light flashes brilliantly in the circle. The energy ruffles our clothes, and lightning sparks down with a snap. _

_Before long, it takes a turn, and again I witness the most defining moment of my life, like countless times before._

_My piercing scream rips through the stormy night, and the last thing I see is the terrified face of my baby brother, Alphonse._

* * *

I'm breathing heavily and trying to clear my vision, struggling to sit up. A pain stabs in my chest, and I hazily gather my bearings. From the window, I recognise the busy streets of Rush Valley. So I got here in the end then, huh.

Wait, how did I get here? I don't remember that. Well fuck it, I'm not complaining. It's not the first time I've woken up in a random place without knowing how I got there. Surveying the room, I notice a bed and a nightstand- and a familiar looking vase on top of it.

"Well aren't you just fuckin' hilarious…" I am really beginning to hate that vase.

So with minimal attention to my reflection and hygiene, I exit the room and descend the stairs towards the murmur of voices below. There's a dull ache in my chest and I'm wondering why it's not so bad anymore, when the irritating sound of a moron ruins my morning.

"Do you know when Elric will be stable enough to leave?"

Before anyone can answer, I enter the room from the shadows and speak, "When I feel like it, shithead." He jumps and spills his coffee on the table, and I throw back my head and laugh. What a dumbass.

"And you're in the military! How do they train you, from a textbook?" I bare my teeth, and snicker at his discomfort.

"We go through extensive and toughening trials Elric, not that you would know…" He mutters.

"Hey there, kid. Nice friends you got here. I was beginning to think you were kind of a lone wolf." The second idiot makes his announcement, as if I don't want to murder him for breathing.

Before I can answer, I'm assaulted by a very angry Winry.

"What kind of crap have you gotten into, Ed?" She screeches.

"What the hell's it to you?" Honestly.

"You up and abandoned the only people you had left! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"_That_, is what I would like to know." The untrained military-puppy intervenes.

"Shut your faces, don't act like I owe you shit, Winry. _Or_ you," I add to the pup, 'cause he's lookin' me like he's so freaking official. Damn I miss my rusty shack in the city. Free of annoying people.

"Well thanks, Ed, I just saved your life and you completely shut me out." She's lookin' hurt, and I patch up any part of me that should care. So I'm left with an unconcerned face, and the silence stretches where she glares, and I ignore. At least she fixed my heart.

Hawkeye is standing by Roy's right like a sentinel, as usual, and she raises a point I didn't want to explain. "What happened to your heart, Elric?"

With a gun near her hand, and the blonde idiot and the bubbly idiot blocking the doors, options aren't looking too great. But I still decide they can go fuck themselves.

"None of your damn business, lady."

Blonde smoking-guy says, "You know you can't get away, so you might as well answer us."

"Who says I can't get away?"

"Ed!"

"Stop fucking callin' me Ed!" I gave up that name, why does she always pretend like I'm the kid she grew up with? I'm rotten to the core, and she should learn that.

A convenient interruption takes place, as Garfiel makes an appearance with a newspaper. "Winry! Have you seen this? It's Al, your friend you told me about." He saunters in and hands the paper to her, while I try to read her face without too much expression on my own. What happened with Al?

She reads for a stretched minute, then raises her head to me. "Your mentioned", she says with a hint of spite.

But Mustang gets it first, and his military buddies take a look, while I get to be the only one who doesn't know the news about their own brother. Their own brother who almost killed them. Whatever.

Chaos, or Mayhem, or whatever his fuckin' name is, had left his post at the door. Seeing an opportunity of the escaping variety, I make a dash for it and test my new heart. They jump up, and look round stupidly, but I'm already halfway down the road.

Now, on a normal chase, this would be no problem. I have people who owe me favours just dripping onto the streets all over Amestris; but not here. This is Winry's domain, and I've sure as hell been steering clear of it all my life. Which means there's no one who owes me a favour to hide me, and no one to slow them down. Not to mention I'm runnin' alone after major surgery.

Unbelievably, the ground several metres ahead bursts apart, and a fight emerges onto the street from the sewers. I skid to a stop, because there's no way I'm being dragged into a fuckin' fight after all this stupid shit. Mustang and co. arrive several seconds after, and witness the scarred dude and some crazy black-haired chick fighting like crazy. And I mean crazy, on some other level, 'cause shit's gettin' blown up all over the place.

Almost just as surprisingly, Mustang snaps flames into the fray, and the others are jumping in to fight. I don't, and never will, understand why the hell they did that. To purposely jump into a fight that isn't even your own, just for the sake of a job. I'm so surprised, I'm standing there starin' like a gormless idiot, while scarred dude gets a bowl-full of ass kicking by the- chick? I dunno.

"Hey! You just gonna stand there, kid?" The chick-man-thing says to me, landing right in front of my face.

"Who the fuck are you?" I say indignantly, "Wait…_what_ the fuck are you?" My calm sarcasm seems to have ticked some nerve, and a short fuse just burned out.

"What did you just say?"

"Temper, temper, man-girl-tree, I was just asking a question!" When people are stuck up or too confident, _that's_ when I join a scrap.

And like usual, the opponent takes the bait and throws a barrage of attacks. Powerful attacks. I can barely keep up. Shit.

We break apart, and an explosion of flames throws us through a fleeing fruit cart. I get up and wipe away the citrus crap, and say, "So spill the beans then, don't expect a good turnout at your funeral if I don't even know who I killed!"

"Listen, shorty, you really don't want to piss me off." Smug bastard actually landed on his feet. Wait, did he just call me-!

"Fuck you, assface! I'm not short!"

I lunge at him with a transmuted wooden spear, and he blocks and breaks it within seconds. I'm not beat up or nothin', but it kinda freaks me out when my opponent lasts this long. I kick and flip over, and kick again and he's knocked back. I take advantage and beat him down, until I realise that the other fight has ended, and we're surrounded by the military gang with guns pointed. The grey-haired scarred guy is gone, and a broken street is what he left behind.

"Damn, Roy, you suck at this, huh?" I jaunt with a crooked grin.

"Just be quiet, Elric." He glares.

"Elric? Edward Elric?" Tree-she says, turnin' to me with a manic snarl.

"You deaf as well as ugly?" I reply.

He growls and leaps at me, which I never freakin' expected, what with all the loaded guns. They shoot and hit his leg, he falls down in annoyance, and in a alchemic flash he's back up again. What?

"Come on, Envy. Tucker's dead, change of plans." A female voice sounds out, and I turn to see a real black-haired chick standing…Well, standing on a roof. This day's all full of unlikely, isn't it? And then the bastard just walks away, and jumps up to the roof and out of sight. I'm so shocked I forget to run.

"What was that?" Hughes asks stupidly.

"That, Mr. Military Guy, is a real live transvestite." I'm chock full of funnies today.

But Mustang doesn't think so, "I've had enough of this. Elric, come quietly, and I might get you some years off your prison sentence."

"Hey, I thought we had a deal." I put a hand on my hip mockingly, while still poised for a quick flight.

He considers me, like, seriously, then nods. "Fine. Men, clear the way. We'll have a one-on-one."

"What?" I'm genuinely shocked. Why the fuck is he keepin' to his word? What is with this guy? Getting into fights that he doesn't need to, and now keeping a promise to a criminal? Still need to figure him out.

"Something wrong, Elric?" He says, probably testing me or somethin'. I hate that. I don't even know him.

"No way! I'll kill your ass!" Fuck that, after Al, surgery, and the tree-she, I'm dead. Time to leave, I think.

Winry finally makes an appearance. Or maybe she was always there- I wasn't really payin' attention. But anyway, she's yelling something. Support or anger, or whatever. So I clap my hands together and break the ground apart to fall down, and the military guys all scramble not to get dragged in too. Mustang's orderin' and yellin', so I run again. All I ever seem to be doing nowadays is runnin', and I'm sure as hell getting fucked off with it. I don't go looking for military fights, but when I'm in them I don't usually run like a damn coward. I can blame it on my injuries all I want, but I'm beginning to think that maybe livin' is becoming way too important to me.

Sounds stupid, right? But there's a whole load of shit to my story. It all started with a broken heart, and I'm as sure as hell it's gonna end with one, too.

* * *

Gone again. They both show up and leave whenever they feel like it.

And that newspaper- the other Elric's back in the public eye again. He briefly wonders about the brothers. Why are they so separate, like rivals, even? Was it Alphonse who put Elric in hospital? He can understand gangsters and thieves fighting, but he always thought family would come first. After all, his own family consists of a shady foster mother and an office of friends. He holds them close, to ridiculous lengths, so the concept of sibling rivalry was like a paradox to him.

But enough of that, he forgot to even consider the main problem here.

"Sir, that man, the one we shot-?" Hawkeye asked. She was surprised, which was rare, and he had already forgotten about him.

"I'll look into it. You can count on me, Roy!" Hughes says, way too cheerful after that dramatic episode.

"How did he just heal like that?" Havoc asks plainly.

"I don't know. Alkahestry? I heard those in Xing look into ways of healing with a sort of Alchemy." Hughes said, suddenly serious.

The girl, Winry he thinks, comes over to them in a hurry, and says, "I'm not going to ask you not to hurt him, but, well, don't let him die. Please." She's clutching a wrench with both hands, as if she was holding on to it for support.

"Of course. Why would you think he's going to die?" Hughes replies kindly, father-instinct kicking in.

She laughs sadly, "You really have to ask? Besides, I think there's a whole lot more trouble heading his way. I know he's a jerk, but…Well, we grew up together."

"He must have changed a bit, huh?"

"You have no idea" she smiles her melancholy smile again, waves them a quick goodbye, and runs off. The military unit is swarming all over the place by now, and the four of them are left in a silent circle of contemplation.

* * *

Back in the office, they were filling out paperwork methodically. The others had been briefed on what had happened, and had been discussing their psychopathic little thief-problem constantly.

Hughes had rushed off to finally get some details on the kid, and Mustang was waiting patiently in his office, procrastinating and sighing on cue. Hawkeye glared at regular intervals at his lack of work, but he zoned in on the conversation taking place before them.

"Do you think they're secretly working together? Just to screw with us?" Havoc intervened.

"'Course not, they've been trouble for a while. Always having gang wars on the streets, apparently. I heard that from Charles in the break room, he was the one who always had to go in and clean up after." Breda cut in wisely.

"Well it's obvious the Elric with the heart problem didn't know about the Tucker incident, from what you told us." Even Falman was gossiping.

"He didn't even have a reason to kill him, right? I mean isn't that a little suspicious?" The timid voice of Fuery spoke interestedly.

"Yeah, even if it was something to do with his brother, it's too vague. I don't think Elric even went near Tucker, so why would Alphonse kill him?" Havoc replies.

"Isn't Tucker the Sewing-life Alchemist? He was due to report his research soon wasn't he?" Falman says knowingly.

"But I don't see how that relates." Breda replies.

Well they weren't getting anywhere by discussing it, but it sure helped in getting the ball rolling. They were full of ideas. Mostly useless ideas, but it was an accomplishment to even have a interesting conversation during paperwork.

On a side note, if the Elric brothers weren't enough, the Fuhrer was losing patience with him. Their trip to Rush Valley had wasted a day, and while that wasn't exactly the longest vacation ever, it meant they left Tucker un-inspected for a day. And the one day they leave the vicinity, Tucker gets murdered in his own home, and his daughter goes missing. Not to mention he let two criminals escape from right under his nose. He didn't even bother mentioning the self-healing Envy character and the other female- he thought it was bad enough as it was.

But he did have to look into that, too. Maybe he should call Hughes and check up. No, he'll probably go off on some tangent again, it's best to wait for him to turn up by himself.

But patience was never Mustang's greatest virtue. _Come on Hughes, just on phone call. At least an update on the Tucker case._

_*Ring, ring*, _How climactically convenient, Hughes.

* * *

Rain poured like knives into my numb skin, and the streets were desolate as I walk slowly towards the alley. My stomach drops out of existence, when I realise there is only one option. I hate it, and I feel the despair of it when I reach the mouth of the alley, and look down into the shadows.

God's got nothin' on me, the bastard. I could defy him all I like, and live to die another freakin' day. So I accept yet another sin, and walk further along the narrow path. They say I'm evil and heartless, I steal and kill without a conscience, but It's just not true. When it comes down to it, I make sure I feel the wrong of what I'm doing, so it hurts enough to make me remember. If I didn't have a heart, this wouldn't be so difficult.

But it is, and I keep remembering her crying over her pathetic father. Wasted tears, believe me. Alphonse actually killed him, so I wonder what she did when she realised, or if she realised what Tucker had done to her. If she could even realise anything in this state. Fathers are useless.

"Kill…me…"

I look up into it's eyes, and see the girl and dog both, before I made the alchemic clap. Every time I hear it, I feel Death edge closer, because I always end them with a clap.

One clap, and I take them forever, and a tiny part of me dies with them every time.

No wonder I don't have a heart.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews again. No, there will be no yaoi, and no EdxWin either. But don't let that put you off! I hope you liked the whole heart thing. It got kind of unintentionally 'romancey', but I brought it back, oh yes I did, angst anyone?** **Review and let me know what you think!**


	5. Can You Live Without the Truth?

_Can You Live Without the Truth?_

I wonder if the sky is really blue, or if there's some sort of layer over the world that's coloured that way. Maybe pollution or some shit. Or maybe the sky is really another colour, but I just see it in this colour because there's somethin' wrong with me. What is blue, anyway? Who's to say blue is one specific colour, maybe we all see different shit but it's really the same thing, so we call it blue. What if my blue is different to someone else's blue? Where did the names come from anyway? What kind of stupid name for a colour is yellow?

I fuckin' hate colours, even they divide people. How moronic is that, to judge people based on colours? I hate people.

And it seems like the people of the military have another secret, too. I checked it out as soon as I got out of Rush Valley. I went round Dublith and checked in with some people, and when they gave me fuck all, I went back to Central to look some more. See, I got curious about that tree-she and the other chick, what with all the automatic healing and shit. But there's nothing, not one single thing about who they are. But then I suppose it's pretty difficult lookin' into someone who you know nothin' about. So in the end one of my sources in Central got somethin', just some information bout the people I saw making some sort of riot in Lior. That, somehow, they managed to convince an entire town that one of them was their deceased priest without them even realising he was dead.

Sounded dodgy to me. Either they got some sort of power or special alchemy to make people believe whatever they say, or everyone in Lior is a complete fuckin' idiot. Or both, whatever.

So this leads me to break into Central HQ and start diggin' around in their files. This whole mess has got me so wound up I haven't even checked back to my own HQ, which is pretty weird. It's been a long time since I've been on my own for this long and I'm beginning to kinda like it. My HQ's got a nickname; The Den, because we're always stealin' stuff and hoardin' it away, instead of transportin' it and selling it as soon as we get it. I dunno, I like to keep stuff and wait for the right business opportunity in the market, instead of just gettin' it out the way quickly. Other thieves were sceptical at first, but they soon realised it was workin' better than their shitty trade, and tried it themselves. 'Course, that was a total shamble. The only reason I'm able to find the opportunities is by watching and recordin' people and places carefully, so I can calculate what can happen.

So anyway, I break through another window, thankfully managing to avoid any random office encounters, and make it unnoticed into a vent. It would have been so much more difficult if I hadn't consulted a stolen map last night, or if the military hadn't decided to hire a dumbass called Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.

I mean seriously, the idiot just walked right out of the room with some stupid grin on his face to go to make a call. I'm watching from the vent, and he's placing a call while the storeroom on the other end of the room lies open. On top of that, the idiot is yellin' at the top of his voice exactly what he's been doing here.

"Hey Roy! How's paperwork?…Hahaha, you should really lighten up if you're hoping for a chance with your special lady….."

A pause, and he kinda weirds me out with the sudden serious change.

"No, I haven't found anything. It's like they don't even exist; their photo isn't in record anywhere." Yeah, I found that one out before you, Mr. Rich Military Ass. Ha.

"Yeah, of course…" The conversation goes on and I get distracted by a passing fly. I contemplate whether to sneak away quietly, or throw caution to the wind and break his neck then steal the files. But that isn't really my style, and besides, I guess he isn't the worst kinda guy, even in the military. And he does have a family…And a little kid, right?

In the end, I crawl away through the vent towards the direction of the storeroom and break one open. Pushing aside a stack of papers, I sidle round a cabinet and listen for the sound of Military guy hangin' up while I search. I rifle through the papers as silently as possible, and find somethin' interesting. A cookbook. Or to be precise: a genius' log of alchemic codes and ciphers. If the military don't know what this is, how the hell did it end up here? I glance over the title and do a double take. Tim Marcoh, huh? Well that would explain it.

…"Yeah, I know…alright, I'll keep looking. Yeah, haha, I wouldn't want to keep you…Bye!" Looks like the stupid side is back, and it looks like I need to split, quick. I tuck the book under my arm and slip back through the vent. He enters the room whistling but doesn't notice a thing, and I crawl my way outta there.

I celebrate my small victory when I'm outside, by throwing a large rock through one of the windows, then laughin' 'cause I know they can't see me. That's the plus side to being smart; I can calculate angles, lengths, areas and widths to determine blind spots. So when I'm stealin' crap I know where to leg it when the shit hits the fan. Hey, 'hits' is an anagram for 'shit'. Another plus side to bein' smart.

Well, anyway, I'm almost near the end now.

So I get back to my territory, finally, feeling kinda annoyed that I didn't try bust Dolcetto or anyone out. But hey, they aren't goin' anywhere, and I'll get to it eventually. I decide not to drop in with my people, because they'll want me to sort shit out when I'm already up to my neck in it. Well, not really, but fuck it I'm not going anyway.

I sit on the roof of some abandoned warehouse, and I make sure it's abandoned, and try figurin' it all out. Some comparisons and codes are easy to get, but then there's references to earlier passages and equations and calculations that tie up at regular intervals. Basically, this is goin' to take time and study, and a place to write stuff down. I sigh as I realise I'm probably gonna be here for a while.

For a few hours it's the basic components, then it's messages and ingredients, and then it's a whole bunch of shit I really didn't wanna know. There were references to homunculi, for some reason, but it went on to elaborate on the composition of a Philosopher's stone, of all things. And it isn't somethin' I wanted to learn, because now I'm gonna end up gettin' myself involved, 'cause it's real messed up.

I lean back and allow myself a small moment of rest, but still stayin' alert to my surroundings just in case someone tries to kill me again. That's been happening a bit more frequently nowadays. Then a small shuffle and a soft gasp sounds nearby, and I leap up immediately. There's no one about, but I know what I heard so I'm still lookin'. I glare at a disappearin' arm behind an air vent, and dart forward just in time.

Just in time to catch the fleeing spy, and he panics strangely. I growl and prepare to attack, but he makes a quick reluctant swipe of his fist with a weird kind of scared whimper, and I fall to the ground. I had hesitated. I can't hit Al.

So that's how I end up starin' at the blue sky, losing consciousness while I ponder the absurdity of colours.

* * *

"Enough with that Hughes, have you found anything about those people we saw?…How can that be? Well thanks for trying, anyway. If it's alright, would you mind finding out about Elric and his brother?"

Mustang sits at his desk, ruffled hair and slight dark circles under his eyes, on the phone to his best friend. Hawkeye sits nearby, allowing the phone call mainly on the basis of her own curiosity, and because it actually does relate to work for once. Havoc, Breda, and the others listen in too, still wondering about the young thief themselves.

"Alright, Hughes I should go, Hawkeye's giving me the evil eye…" He jokes, but she really was glaring at him, signalling the end of the discussion which had drifted significantly again.

He hangs up and sighs, rubbing his tired eyes. He had been thinking a lot about Elric and the Envy person they encountered. They weren't specifically his problem, he could even get the Elric arrest handed over to another officer if he tried, but for some reason he didn't want to. He had a feeling that he might not be so bad under all the cynicism and creepiness. Besides, he was 15, how bad could he really be? Everyone makes mistakes; even murderers can be forgiven.

At least, he desperately hopes so- for his own soul's sake.

He opens his eyes and takes another shot at the paperwork, resting his weary head on a hand. He had been thinking a little too hard about it all, and had had some trouble sleeping. He wondered briefly what the brat would say if he knew he was keeping him up at night, and smirked at what response he would reply with, despite the slight fear he has of the kid.

"Ya know, I have to wonder about that kid" Havoc pipes up in the silence. He sighs. As soon as he had stopped thinking about it, someone else brings it back up, and there was no doubt as to who he was talking about.

"Can we leave it? I think I've heard enough about him, if you don't mind." Mustang lied, irritated.

"Sure thing boss, but, I have to wonder though."

He sighed again. There was no way around a conversation really, strange kids beget strange conversations.

So Havoc continued, "Just how the hell does a kid end up with an automail heart anyway? I can understand if he had an accident, but you'd think there'd be more damage to other parts of him. From what we saw in the surgery, it was as if something just reach inside and ripped the heart clean out."

Fuery made a small gagging noise from the corner, and the whirring of machinery halted for a second. "Do you mind?", he squeaked queasily.

Breda slapped Havoc round the back of the head with a good natured laugh, and said, "Maybe it was removed with surgery; there can't be any other option, really."

Havoc rubbed his head, annoyed, and replied "Why would he do that?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, he's a weird kid."

Mustang was resting his head on his hand, with the palms pressing into his eyes. He had gone over this thoroughly, and he had to admit he was more than a little freaked to see the kids pale chest be split open, to expose a whirring mess of metal. The girl though, Winry, wasn't even perturbed, almost annoyed at it's damage. Maybe she was the one who made it? She did say she was his automail mechanic. She didn't reveal much about him, either, just that the surgery was a success, and there's no other vital damage besides the heart.

And apparently she knew his brother Alphonse, too. She didn't explain about the rivalry though, which was frustrating. Oh well, Hughes will reveal all in due time. Hopefully.

"Sir," Fuery piped up distractedly, and Mustang looked over at him.

"Sir, I think I have something…" He was attempting to speak and concentrate on the contraption at the same time. Mustang gave a pause to allow him to continue, but when he didn't, he opened his mouth to inquire further, and a loud static noise sounded through the office, and voices came into existence.

Fuery had bugged several telephone lines and other equipment, even going as far as to drop them randomly around the city to find any information about either Elric or Envy.

This was what one bug was receiving: "…The experiments, Envy, because…soners….ping from Lab 5….Barry the Ch….er…." It faded back into white noise again, and before Mustang could make another inquiry, it sounded back up, "…The alche….ray…..jus…need…stat….mist…..to activate the…..cle…losophers stone, Lust. Why don't you be patient for once?"

The quality was awful, and the bugs were really just a desperate attempt for any information whatsoever, but it had led to something. And not just something.

"The Philosophers stone?" Falman commented, when the bug cracked and died.

"Lab 5, huh?" Mustang muttered, still confused, but not showing it.

Hawkeye was still methodically filling out papers, the only one actually left working. She stopped, and looked up, deciding that perhaps this wasn't a complete waste of time, and said "Lab 5 was abandoned long ago, why would anything be escaping from there?"

"You heard that?" Mustang said, surprised. Either way, he believed this was enough of a reason to go investigate. Especially when he distinctly heard the words 'Envy', and now 'Lust'. What was this?

He departed immediately, leaving behind the all too willing Falman and Fuery to continue the paperwork. Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda and himself discussed a plan while observing an old map Falman had salvaged from the Intelligence department. Mustang decided Hughes didn't necessarily need to be involved. Besides, he'd be much more useful and much less annoying investigating Elric, rather than assisting him on a spur of the moment raid on a long abandoned building.

What was with all these rash decisions? He really was desperate for a promotion.

When they reached a logical conclusion, the four of them took a military car immediately, without any back up. Mustang thought the random desire to infiltrate a derelict building may raise some suspicious eyebrows among the higher ups, and he was trying to remain discreet. They arrived quickly, and what they found almost convinced him that this was something worth investigating.

They left the car on the street side and filed up against the tall walls surrounding the broken fortress, when Mustang spotted a familiar duo accompanied by the ever sparkling Armstrong, and-

"Maes?" Mustang said, confused. He turned around at his name, and smiled at the four staring at him.

"Hey there, Roy. You'll never guess what I found out." Maes said. Ross and Brosh turned to salute them, and Armstrong followed suit dramatically.

He rose his eyebrows, and said "I thought you were meant to be investigating Elric?"

"No, no I was, and I found out quite a few interesting things, too. But I also found out about something else. Ever heard of the Philosophers stone?"

Mustang waved a hand vaguely, "It's just a legend."

"Right. But, I happened to stumble across the files for a riot that occurred in Lior only a few weeks ago, which I noticed related to the Ishabal War from-"

"Hughes, we don't have all day."

"Well anyway, I have reason to believe that something big is happening, Roy. Big, as in the entire country of Amestris, and it's not pretty. Several higher ups have been covering it up, even the Führer himself made sure that the Lior situation didn't reach the ears of the public."

"I don't know what you're getting at, Maes." But anxiety rooted itself deeply, this wasn't something that surprised him. And that wasn't comforting.

"An alchemic array, Roy, right across Amestris, and this place adds up." He was suddenly solemn once more, and he seemed more disturbed than Mustang had ever seen him.

"…What kind of array?" He questioned. But before he could get an answer, explosions sounded underground, from the direction of the Laboratory. Clashing metal sounded distantly from the building, and the seven of them approached rapidly to find the source of the commotion, and Hughes' distress.

* * *

I am in way over my fuckin' head. First I get knocked out like a pansy, and wake up to find myself in some building. And then when I do walk around tryin' to get out, I find some huge ass transmutation circle.

For what? For a fucking Philosopher's stone, that's what.

"Are you kidding me?" I mock.

"Nope. Pipsqueak, just do what we say, or you will regret it." Tree-she and the other chick was waiting for me down here, and I was gettin' annoyed. I don't normally just let random people kidnap me and use me to activate random circles. Especially when there's a cage of people involved in the transmutation.

"Hey, fuck you! I'm not short, everyone is just freakishly tall!" I scream at him. Jackass.

"Can we just get on with this?" The woman drawls, leaning her hand on some fat shit by her side.

I cross my arms and decide I should really just kill them now, they're really irritating. I clap my hands together and create a blade using some pipes from a nearby broken wall, and brandish it threateningly.

The Envy guy just sighs and says, "can't you just be a good little shorty and activate the circle? If you don't we'll kill that sweet little brother of yours. But then I suppose you would welcome that after the beating he gave you, right?". He laughed savagely, as if he truly liked the idea.

"How would you know about that?" I yell. Really, I thought only thieves and the military were any good at gathering information, and the military are still pretty shit, anyway.

"Temper, temper, short-metal-pipsqueak, I was only asking a question." He snarls menacingly, and leaps forward to attack. I respond with my forged blade and cut and stab at him. But he's fast, and manages to either dodge, or block the attacks with his _hands_. Now that's badass. They sort of…regenerate, with the same alchemic sparks as before. I'm starin' at the recovery, and he laughs and punches me to the ground.

Jeez, it's like everyone can fuck me up these days. Wait, metal? He can't know about that, too?

He stands over me and breaks both my hands, with two quick stamps of his bare feet. He laughs, and the woman comments, "don't damage his arms too much, Envy, he still needs them for the transmutation."

"Why can't you fuckin' do it?" I say, even though I'm completely fucked by this point. Again.

"Because homunculi can't do alchemy, shorty." Envy says, draggin' me over to the circle. I notice the guys in the cage, and they're dressed like prisoners. Well I guess they are prisoners, but they even look like criminals.

Oh _fuck._

"Elric?" Dolcetto says, the chimera makin' it's way to the front of group gathered. My group.

Hey, Elric! Sorry, er, could you help us out?" Paninya calls, and I see Martel and the others are all there as well. Trust the military to not notice a bunch of criminals go missing, but as soon as one rich State Alchemist dies they go ape shit.

"Yeah, yeah, you fuckin' idiots can't even get arrested properly." I sigh, even though I'm pretty screwed too.

"Hey, looks like you know each other! Isn't that great?" That Envy guy is really annoying.

I'm dragged right in front of the circle, and I balk as I realise my people are the ingredients, the truth I found out from that dude's book, and I'm the one who's gonna kill them. Damn.

Nah, I don't feel like it right now.

I clap my hands together and stifle a scream of pain, then slam them to the ground and smash the place up. Nice.

Unfortunately, I accidentally caused a cave in, and now I need to get the hell out.

"What the hell did you do that for, pipsqueak?" Envy yells through the noise, and I make a dash for the cage. Seein' as I'm here, I might as well get them out, right? I smash the lock with a kick, and they pile out just as parts of the roof come down with a crash. I'm pulled backwards by a hand, and I lose consciousness, twice in one day.

Only later, did I realise the bastard said 'homunculi', which is exactly what I didn't want to find out. But if I hadn't of been told, I had no doubt that I would be figurin' it out eventually, anyway.

I can't just leave the truth alone, can I?

* * *

**It's been a while. But it's pretty difficult updating frequently when I don't own my own laptop, I just use everyone else's. -.- Tell me what you think, and if it's any good, because I'm not sure of this one. Also tell me if there's something you don't understand, and thanks to the last reviewers they were some of the best yet :D  
**


	6. Can You Live Without Sanity?

_Can You Live Without Sanity?_

"This is something we must tolerate no longer, Colonel, I'm sure you agree with me after recent events." Fuhrer Bradley spoke, hands clasped on the sill of the window he was leaning through.

"Of course sir", Mustang replied from inside the building, leaning over a desk.

"If we continue to let these thieves and criminals run this city, the military will lose it's control and influence over the citizens. In desperate times, one might turn to a thief for a service rather than an officer. This is something that must not happen. The military are already despised in some parts of the country, and mistrusted greatly in others. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation, Mustang, Hughes?"

"Yes, sir", both answered.

"So the two leading thieves of Central: Alphonse and Edward must be brought down. Edward has escaped you, but due to the extent of his injuries, he should not prove a problem." He said, a note of threat creeping into his voice like a black shadow.

"Of course, sir", They saluted in unison.

And in an instant, Bradley's features relaxed and a carefree smile graced his deceptively warm face. "Good. I'll make sure to check up another time, and make sure you don't tell my bodyguard you saw me here." He slipped away through a bush, leaving an eerily silent atmosphere in his wake. Hughes and Mustang looked at each other, worry evident.

"So, it's pretty much all your responsibility now." Hughes said.

He nodded, "It's all Elric's fault." he said, scowling.

"I'm sure you can let him know" he smirked, continuing the paperwork he had been doing previously.

He had come down from his own office to discuss and research the escape of Envy and some other individuals he had seen flee the laboratory, when the Fuhrer had appeared at the window.

"Believe me, I will. Ungrateful brat." He replied.

"Just be patient. He's decent guy underneath, right? Insulting him wont help."

"You don't know Hughes, he's like an untamed animal, he completely destroys everything."

They continued their banter all the way out of the building, and during the entire car ride to Mustang's house. It continued up the steps to his door, and into the living room. Hughes dropped down onto the sofa comfortably, resting his arms on the back each side. Mustang was still cursing a particular 'short brat', when a loud complaint was heard from behind them.

"You call this shit coffee? It tastes like ass."

Hughes leapt up and turned to see a disgruntled-looking Elric, holding Mustang's most expensive cup like a mug.

"If you would refrain from startling my friends half to death and stealing my drinks, that would be most welcome." Mustang replied dryly and calmly.

"You're the one who kidnapped me, you freak."

"What the hell is going on here, Roy?" Hughes exclaimed, still ruffled.

"There was a complication." Mustang muttered.

"Nothin' complicated about it, jackass. It's called stealin' kids when they're unconscious, like a paedophile. You a paedophile, shit face? I think you are."

"Elric, I saved you from being hospitalized and jailed. You had better come up with a more polite way of saying 'thank you', if I were you." Mustang said, unfazed by the comment.

"Well look who's gotten confident then! Just 'cause I got a few scratches doesn't mean I can't take you down, old man."

"I'd like to see you try." Mustang replied smugly, losing himself for a minute.

"Wait just a second, why are you here, Elric?" Hughes intervened.

The thief was standing, or rather leaning, against the back of the sofa, still clutching the cup. He was covered in injuries from the lab collapse, and glaring defiantly at Mustang with all the energy in the world behind burning gold eyes. Glinting cuts from his arms, torso, and legs shined out from rips in the rags, and his loose hair fell in messy tumbles that showed a tough night sleeping. While he appeared exhausted and cut, deeper injuries weren't apparent.

"Envy. While you disappeared like you always do, Maes, that Envy person literally handed me Elric, telling me…telling me that…well he didn't make much sense." Mustang said, ignoring the fierce glare from the teen.

Hughes answered "Hey don't blame me! That was alchemist business, nothing a normal person like me should be involved in. And what do you mean 'not much sense'? What did he say?" Hughes said quickly, before anyone could speak.

"I don't know, I barely remember. Either way, I took Elric back here before anyone could see, and before HQ was called down to investigate." He replied.

"Why?" Hughes said.

"Yeah, you'd be lucky if I don't cut your throat while you sleep." Elric smirked.

Mustang gave him a glowering look, "Prison doesn't have to come first."

"What the hell does that mean?" Elric demanded.

"It means, there may be a use for you after all. Why, do you want to go to prison?" Mustang said.

Hughes answered first, "Roy, I really don't think this is a good idea. What if someone finds out? If the higher ups hear about this, or God forbid, the Fuhrer, then you'll _both_ be going to prison."

He kept glancing at Elric, like his presence made him uncomfortable. The blond was clenching and unclenching his fingers on the sofa, a subtle sign of distress. He was glaring at Mustang, and had his jaw firmly clamped, as if he was trying not to say something.

"They wont. Trust me on this Maes, he can help." he replied. The two were completely ignoring Elric now, both turned to each other and talking as if no one else was there. Something the teen picked up on.

"And who says I want to help some fuck like you?" He said, annoyed at the lack of attention.

"Because if you don't, I'll turn you over to the authorities right now. We've already looked into you, and while you may think the military is useless, we know enough to tell you've got a long list of crime and evidence behind you. As well as a brother we could easily arrest." He added, carefully assesing the reaction.

"Blackmail?" Hughes said in disbelief.

Elric snorted, "Go ahead, I'm sure you'll get far, he'll be more difficult to find that me. This is his _domain_, dumbass. You only got me 'cause I was practically handed to you."

Mustang said nothing, just raised an eyebrow.

"Alphonse has his own organization right on your HQ's doorstep, and you guys can't do shit about it. You think you can just up and arrest it's leader now?"

Hughes and Mustang exchanged confused looks, and turned back to the teen. Mustang said, "Your brother, huh?"

"Obviously", Elric crossed his arms, watching the pair with suspicious eyes.

"Fine. You arrest him." Mustang told the boy.

"What?" Both Hughes and Elric said, staring.

"You know, it's not blackmail when you get the guy you're blackmailing to do the actual blackmailing." Elric said.

"Your…brother, right? He's the one who put you in hospital?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well then, seeing as you're on such good terms, arresting him shouldn't be a problem." He countered, Hughes still looking at him like he's lost the plot.

"You can pretend to make deals with me all you like, Roy, but I still don't see any reason why I can't just stab you both, cut your heads off, and leave." Elric said, arms still crossed with a sceptical expression.

"Fine then, you bring back, ah, your brother, and we let you go and throw the military right off your trail." He proffered, ignoring the look of growing intensity on Hughes' face.

Elric considered him, eyes narrowed, and said, "And where's that cherry on top, asshole?"

Mustang ground his teeth, and replied tightly, "And we'll let those criminals and chimeras go, free of charge."

"Roy, what makes you think-" Hughes started.

"Don't worry Maes, chances are he'll fail anyway, then we don't lose anything." He smirked, watching Elric's reaction.

"You can? You'll let them all go? Don't try screw me over, or I swear I will kill you." He snarled.

Mustang smiled confidently, glad to finally have the upper hand, "You seem quite disturbed for a guy who doesn't care about any one else."

"Fuck you! I just need people to run a business. You know you can't-Fuck you!"

"Nice response." He replied, watching the teen stalk off to the back door, kicking things over in his wake.

"Fuck you!" He yelled from the kitchen, and a door slamming followed his words.

Mustang chuckled, and stared off for a while, and Hughes was still struck for words.

"Bribery?" He said weakly, "with a criminal?"

Mustang turned back to his friend, and said "I'm curious, what do you expect? He's unusual."

"Yeah, he's a lunatic. They tend to be pretty weird, Roy."

"No, it's something else…Don't you think it's kind of strange for someone to brutally attack their own brother? Especially at their age?"

"I think it's pretty weird for a kid to be an infamous and successful thief, so everything else just sort of fits."

Mustang shook his head, frowning. "It doesn't add up. According your files, Elric and his brother grew up together, and were pretty close. How do they go from one extreme to the next?"

"A better question: who cares? They're criminals, Roy, the kind that rob graves, and rob people, and kill people, and-"

"I know, I know. But from those files, it says that Alphonse Elric died four years ago, in a small town in the East called Resembool. Whoever attacked Elric, and whoever killed Tucker- it wasn't Alphonse."

Hughes blinked, and his mouth was slightly parted. "So…what was Elric talking about?"

Mustang shrugged, and shook his head. "See my point?"

* * *

I dunno why I even agreed. It would have been so much fuckin' easier just to go back to the Den, get some people, and break Dolcetto and the others out myself.

Well, no it wouldn't. But still. I guess it's just better if I get Al arrested. It's not hurtin' him, right? So it's all good. Now I just gotta find him, the bastard.

I start off by just walking through alleyways, the usual dodgy shit, but there's no one about. I go into darker alleys, and eventually I find a spotter. A spotter is a guy who just hangs 'bout the streets, and reports back if he finds anyone or anythin' his boss is tryin' to find. I think I qualify, right?

So I grab him and slam him against a dark and stained wall, danglin' him, despite his height. No point wastin' time. He gets angry though, and tries to shake me off. He's about 18, but I got a firm grip and I tighten a hand around his neck, and say, "So where's he then? Come on, take me back to HQ. Elric wants to say 'hi'."

I throw him down to the floor, and he scrambles back up, and dusts himself down, mutterin'. "Fuckin' bastard…"

He slopes off down a side alleyway with a glance back at me. With a short three fingered thief signal, he motions me to follow. We walk a while in silence, and he makes it difficult for me to keep up by taking long and quick strides, and jumping over fences. Eventually, he comes to a grate at the side of a building, just above the floor, and he bends and kicks it in. Without a word, he gets down and slides through, landin' with a thud below. I do the same, and we walk in darkness for a while. My eyes have been adjust to dark for about 4 years now, otherwise this would have been where I get lost, but I'm sure this guy knows that.

Fuckin' Mustang. Why the hell did I agree to this? Why am I tryin' to help him? Damn, I am definitely gonna kill him one day. But for now I need to see Al. What were Roy and the dumb guy hidin'? Way too suspicious, and I'm way too curious for my own good. Maybe I can do this without startin' a fight, or is that just too much to ask? Probably. Too late now.

For a while we're still walkin', until a crash disturbs the quiet, and rushing water pounds through the tunnels. The spotter stops, and turns to peer down through the darkness towards the sound. I turn too, and yells of a fight echo, and I hear the distinct and familiar sounds of alchemic transmutation fighting.

The spotter legs it, clearly terrified, and I smirk. What a coward. Soon, bright sparks of alchemy flash around the corner, and the walls crumble like dust. Two figures jump across the wreckage, trying to gain higher ground. I notice one is clearly taunting the other, probably takin' the piss outta him. Then I realize that one is that fucker Envy, and the other is that scarred guy again. They're flyin' around and breakin' everythin' again, and I wait for them to get closer. Time to pay the bastard back.

As soon as he's in range, I take a cheap shot and transmute a spear then throw it at him. It hits and he's thrown forward, until he breaks it out and sparks signal an abnormal recovery. He jumps up and spins around, spotting me with a manic grin. With a deft strike, he blockades the tunnel and scarred guy is gone leavin' the two of us to fight, which is fine by me. He jumps forward and spins a kick at me, while I flip backwards and hit the wall, using it like a springboard to go hurtling towards Envy. I land a blow across his head and he barrels into the rubble, and without a pause I clap my hands and collapse the tunnel on top of him. Probably not the safest idea, but I don't really give a shit.

Unfortunately, I probably should have, and I'm soon pinned under a slab of concrete. It's resting on two pipes, but still doesn't give me any room to manoeuvre, and I can feel the air being pushed from my lungs. I waste a little breath by laughin' into the cascading dust. I wonder why I do that? Probably some psychological shit. Fuckin' Mustang.

I hear yells of civilians above, and I manage to slide my hands closer together to clap, and touch the concrete above. It dematerializes into a fine powder, and I gasp a breath of shitty air and roll on my back. Peering through the fog, a dark face looms over me. It draws closer and I recognise the chubby cheeks of Al, I inhale quickly and swallowing a large amount of dust. I can see his distressed face, and my vision blurs with the lack of oxygen. Dimly, I hear his pain echo through my ears and soul.

"Brother…you hurt me…how could you do this to me? You killed me, brother, and I hate you. I _hate _you, and I will never forgive you…"

He fades, and I black out, and wake to a clear blue sky. Dust has settle on my face and body, and I realised I'm still in the sewers with military gangs swarmin' closer, but haven't yet spotted me. I try and shift my way through the wreckage and out of sight, and climb up some broken pipes to the surface. Well, mission failed, Mustang. Go fuck yourself.

Lookin' back at the ruins, I notice that Envy is gone, and there's a human-shaped space in the dust exactly where I was laying. Oh crap. But takin' another look, I see that there's no footprints in the dust around me, no marks or indentations at all. But wasn't Al standin' there? He was there…right?

Before I could consider the thought some more, I'm grabbed by both shoulders and hurled backwards. I land heavily inside some sort of vehicle-box-type-thing, and slide along clumsily. I try and get up to see who I have to brutally kill, but the doors to the box-vehicle are slammed shut, and I'm glarin' into darkness. Soon, I hear an engine cough into life, and the vehicle is rollin' away from the noise outside. It continues for a while, and I'm stuck where I am, there's not even a window for me to see the driver like in most of the military cars I'm shoved in.

When it eventually shudders to a halt, the doors are flung open, and I'm starin' into the face of an angry Al. My mind draws up his earlier words; _'You killed me brother…I hate you…'_

I freeze, and long-forgotten guilt languishes my mind and body, until I'm lost in it and can't see anymore. All I do see is his angry face in my mind's eye, and I clutch my head in the agony of my shame. If I can control my mind I can control the guilt, but no matter how much I claw at my head, the pain wont subside.

'_You killed me brother…' _I didn't mean to, Al, I'm sorry.

'_I hate you…' _Please, please don't hate me…do you blame me? Please don't hate me, Al.

'_I will never forgive you…' _I'll make it up to, you, Al…But I can't, you, you're…you're…

My mind fades to nothin', and guilt racks my consciousness until I can't hear, feel, smell, see, _taste_ anything else.

.

.

.

.

My mind comes around, and through the red mist, I hear a voice.

"Elric? Elric! Listen to me, Elric, wake up."

I latch onto it, usin' it like a rope, to pull me out of the shit I fell into. Using the sound of that voice, I lift myself from the familiar sea of guilt, drippin' with shame, and back into reality. I open my eyes.

I'm on a sofa, Mustang's sofa, and above me are the ever-annoyin' faces of two military dogs.

"Fuck you." I mutter.

For some reason, they actually smile. Hughes chuckles, "Hey, kid".

"Where's Al? He was just there..." My voice dies away as I try not to slip back again. They don't notice, but they exchange sad expressions nonetheless.

Mustang speaks, "Elric, there's something we have to tell you about your brother."

* * *

**And that's that. Do you get it? Tell me your guesses and what you thinks gonna happen, I'll put your names in the next chapter's author's notes for whoever makes the best guesses ;)** **Thank you so much for last chapter's reviews!**

**Edit: Wow, just realised this made no sense, but I made the adjustments. Woops XD Tell me if it makes sense, technically, I mean.  
**


	7. Can You Live Without a Team?

**So, it has been a while, and I am to blame it seems. School's over and I have finally left (woohoo) and I was stuck on Xbox for much longer than is healthy playing Black Ops and Tales of Vesperia (BOTH AWESOME GAMES PLAY THEM NOW O.O), also the laptop I started this chapter on belongs to someone who is never here, so I finally got impatient (and kinda guilty) and just started again on someone else's laptop. Maybe I should just get my own T.T**

* * *

_Can You Live Without a Team?_

"_Hughes, I can stand this kid much longer, how long are you going to be?"_

"_Stop calling me a kid, asshole!"_

"_I'll be there soon. I just need to check up on a few things before I forget."_

"_Well hurry it up… I think he's stolen my hand gun."_

"_Haha, sounds like fun. Well, try not to die. Bye Roy!"_

_*Click*_

Mustang sighs heavily, placing the phone down and rubbing a hand across his tired face.

Now to find the brat.

He glanced around, not sighting the annoying kid, who had been yelling and generally causing a disturbance only moments ago. Mustang had thought that due to his current injuries, he might have settled down a bit and tried to recover. He was evidently wrong, as he passed an exploded oven on the way to the stairs- a recent victim of Elric's boredom.

Creeping up the stairs, he called out, "Elric, come out and give me my gun back." He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice but just ended up sounding patronizing, which would surely only irritate the thief more.

Greeted with silence, he shifted along the hallway, tension building, even for a trained officer such as himself. But then, there was no training that could possibly prepare someone for Elric, he was… a unique type of criminal. And a pretty intimidating one too, not that he would likely admit as much.

In a split second, a flicker of a shadow darted around the bathroom door. He narrowed his eyes, targeting the white painted door, thinking of all the horrible chores he would force the teen to do if he could. Sidling carefully, he reached the bathroom, and flung the door wide open. Only to find the room completely empty.

"Gotcha!" _*BANG*_

A gunshot fired, and in front of Mustang several tiles exploded, leaving a small round hole situated at the centre of the aftermath. He spun around to confront the hysterical Elric, who was laughing too hard to notice. But not the normal kind of laughter, the special Elric kind where innocent things become terrifying, horrific events.

He snatched the gun from his hand and hissed, "What do you think you're doing? This is a dangerous weapon!"

He snorted, replying "Whatever, old man, I could make better weapons from vomit than with that scrap."

He bristled, trying to contain his anger at the child's audacity. "Scrap, is it? Well lets see you laugh now." He pulled on a glove as he spoke, then snapped his fingers together deftly. Elric eyes first widened in interest, and then in shock before he was propelled backwards by the harmless but explosive flame. The teen coughed in a heap on the floor, while Mustang stood there smugly, smirking at the dishevelled and infuriated brat.

"What the hell! At least I missed _you_!" He was still eyeing Mustang's gloves with his sharp, bright eyes, interest shining from them.

"That's not the point." He turned away disinterestedly when he heard the sound of the front door closing, and then a: "Roy? You there?"

"Up here." He said lazily, enjoying his moment of victory and watching the fuming teen from his peripheral vision.

Hughes climbed the stairs quickly, and looked from Elric, to Mustang, and back again. "So what's gone on here, then? aren't you supposed to be recovering, kiddo?"

"I was, until that lunatic tried to kill me." He replied, huffing, and picked himself up.

"I believe it was _you_, who tried to kill _me_, first." Mustang replied dryly.

"Well, whatever the case, I think you should see this, Mustang. It's what I was trying to tell you before Laboratory 5 collapsed." Hughes interrupted, before it could escalate.

They moved downstairs, and a curious Elric followed them both. Hughes was a little uncomfortable having the thief peering over his shoulder behind him, but tried to ignore it as he pulled his notes on the table, laying them out accordingly.

Mustang suddenly covered them with his hands, and said, "Elric, go, this is a military concern.

The teen glared, and Hughes said, "No, wait Roy, let him stay. He might be able to help."

"Help? Weren't you the one who said he was a lunatic? 'Who cares?', you said." Mustang replied.

Hughes shifted slightly, and said, "He can help, Roy, he's an alchemist. A good one."

Elric wasn't even listening, he was already examining the confidential papers before them with growing interest. He interrupted, pointing at a point that had been circled on the map, "First Southern border war…", his finger circled round to another stop. "…Second Southern border war…" he moved it across the paper, "…Insurrection in Lior…" His hand travelled further, coming to a stop. "…Briggs…"

Hughes nodded minutely, face solemn. Mustang just looked confusedly from Hughes to Elric. "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"Hmm, looks like things got interesting." The kid snarled with a grin, arms crossed.

Hughes didn't concur, but rather looked round the map and drew more circles, connecting them together. "Falman was the one who spotted it first, but he couldn't tell what type it could be…but if it involves the entire country then I just thought…"

Mustang kept his eyes on the map, eyes widening when the lines came to a close. He studied it, not believing that it could really be suggesting what he thought it was. Although he couldn't put his finger on it…

Elric abruptly took the pencil from Hughes' hand and connected several more lines, murmuring more incidents, until Mustang gasped and said, "No way…"

Elric looked it over and said plainly, "Well, shit."

Hughes looked up and said, "Okay, now you're going to have to explain to me."

"You were right, it is a transmutation circle." Mustang said.

"Yeah, for a philosopher's stone, so good fuckin' luck dealin' with that." Elric waved his hands, and went to exit the room.

"Wait, Elric what-" Hughes started.

"Don't bother, this aint none of my business. I couldn't care less if we all died."

"What about your brother?" Mustang tried.

Elric spun around, a hand on his hip, "well according to you, he's dead."

"And according to you, he's not, and you're never going to really find out if you quit now and get arrested."

"Who says I'll get arrested?"

"We do, if you walk out of here." Mustang threatened, and Hughes bit his lip, hoping Elric wouldn't fly off the handle again.

He didn't, he just said, "fine", in a calm voice, and sat down. Mustang and Hughes exchanged looks, and the latter piped up, "You know, you're a pretty unpredictable kid."

He shrugged and answered with a one-fingered salute, to which Mustang sighed. Hughes stared down at the map, and said slowly, "well, I guess we need to look into this. We also have to tell the others about it, too."

Mustang nodded, turning back from Elric, and said, "Round everyone up, and we'll meet…" He stopped, thinking. He couldn't meet in HQ and risk an eavesdropper overhearing, after all, this was sounding more and more like a military conspiracy. Not something he wanted the Fuhrer to find out, especially when Hughes already seemed to suspect that something was up.

"I know a place." Elric suddenly said.

Hughes looked unsure, "You do?"

The teen turned to face them from the sofa he was lounging on. He smirked, "Trust me."

* * *

I'm pretty sure this'll work out, even if I end up dyin' along the way. No big deal, right? Without a heart, I'm technically dead anyway. I've been dead ever since I was eleven, I guess.

Well, in any fuckin' case, I'm goin' along with it for now. Which means killin' Mustang is gonna have to wait. Maybe Hughes too. We leave the house, and I take the back seat while the two of them bicker from the front seat. Best friends, huh? Sounds irritating.

We drive in silence for a bit, and I ignore any words that come my way. I can't be bothered to talk, so I wont. I think about the fight with Envy in the sewers, and the face of Al loomin' over me, then shake my head. No point thinkin' 'bout it. Just never think. I'm sittin' here, in some dog's car, bein' escorted like a kid to a warehouse I directed them to. How the fuck did I end up like one of his henchmen? I have my own organization, dammit, and I haven't even bothered with it once since all this shit started. Why the hell is that? It's not like I want to be spendin' time with these assholes.

The car slows near the warehouse, but I get impatient and jump out the still movin' car. It screeches to a sudden halt, and Mustang and Hughes leap out themselves, and Mustang yells, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Hughes looks worried, "Mustang don't antag-"

I interrupt, "You were takin' too fuckin' long, by the time you would have stopped we'd all already be dead by your crappy ass Fuh-" I'm suddenly muffled by the sleeved arm of Hughes.

"Shh! Someone might hear you." He hisses.

I growl loudly into his arm, a habit I can't seem to get rid of, and clap my hands ready to blow him apart. But he suddenly removes himself and Mustang pulls us both through the rusted warehouse door, in a haste to hide us. I shove his hand away and straighten out my clothes, still fumin'. I glance up, and see the entire Mustang team all gathered together, starin'. Straight at me, to be precise.

"What the fuck are you lookin' at?"

"N-Nothing" One piped up timidly, with round glasses on his face. The fuck is he doin' in the military?

"Elric", Mustang warned.

"What? You aint my fuckin' father so stop actin' like it, bastard", I reply. Seriously what's his problem?

Hughes smirks a little at Mustang for some reason, and then clears his throat needlessly, seein' as no one was talkin' anyway, then says, "This is Kain Fuery, Heymans Breda, Jean Havoc, Vato Falman and Riza Hawkeye." He gestures to each one respectively, and they either nod or continue staring in response.

I say nothin', so he continues, "And team, this is Edward Elric, or Fullmetal."

"What the fuck is-"

"It's a little nickname the Fuhrer seems to have given you, when you became somewhat of a stubborn nuisance for us." Mustang said. But from the looks on their faces, 'somewhat' didn't exactly cover it, and that made me smile, or snarl, whatever. I'm not good at smilin'.

"Why are we here then? I'm guessing it's highly confidential and involves the military if we have to be so far from it. Even if we're with a criminal we could have still used HQ, so I'm guessing it's not something you want them to overhear." The one called Falman is the one who spoke. He looks unnerved, I guess, but he's still got a good head on him.

"Why isn't he in prison, sir?" Havoc says, still watchin' me warily.

"'Cause I don't feel like it."

He looked to Mustang, and tried to avert my eyes. Hughes tries to change topic, "Anyway the reason we're here is because I believe there may be a conspi-"

"Sir, I don't think a criminal-" Hawkeye interrupts next, and I get exasperated. But before I can tell her to shut the hell up, Breda speaks instead, "We know he's a criminal, but if Hughes and the boss thinks it's ok for him to be here, that's fine by me. We should get on with this if it really is important."

I'm a little shocked, I gotta admit. He's to the point and undeterred. I have to appreciate someone who doesn't instantly shit themselves and choke up and die whenever I'm around. When it stops being funny it gets annoyin'.

"Right", Hughes says, the continues and explains the situation as they understand it, adding on his own theories and guesses at the end. When he's done, there's an intense silence as everyone thinks, and I get a little impatient.

"So, what are you gonna do 'bout it then?"

Fuery lifts his head from his hand, and says "the map holds a missing mark, and you think it might be Briggs, right? So we should go to Briggs."

"That's it? We have a suspicion so we all head off to the North?" Havoc says disbelievingly, glancin' at me a few times.

"No, we stay here for a while and research. The Lior incident only just occurred, so we still have time to confirm this and get more information. If this really is what we think it to be, then we must be prepared to face whoever is causing this, and even the Fuhrer." Falman says logically.

"Lust and Envy, right? They're homunculi, they could be involved." Breda says, calculating.

And so they launch into Military mode. Bit different from what I'm used to, but whatever. They may be better than I gave them credit for. Maybe.

In the end, they come to some sort of conclusion while my thoughts had drifted again, until I'm actually addressed. By Havoc, nonetheless. "So tell us, then, what are you actually here for?"

"I got my reasons." I reply curtly.

"And what might that be?" Hawkeye says.

"None of your fuckin' business, that's what", I hiss, to which Fuery actually jumps and Havoc looks disturbed.

"Elric, if you're to be working with us, you will show my team due respect." Mustang says coolly, but unable to hide signs of worry at our little confrontation. If he's worried now…Jeez.

"Sure, as soon as they stop their fucking questions", I spat.

"Do you always swear so much?" Havoc says, eyebrows raised again. "You're still a kid, aren't you?"

"I swear however fuckin' much I fuckin' want to." I scowl.

"Do you always use the word 'fuck', though? There's more words than that, you know." Hughes says tauntingly.

Havoc says "Hughes, really, don't-"

"I know how to swear, you fuckin' shit balls, ass, faggin', bastard…!"

Hughes smiles good-naturedly, "Run out of swear words, kid?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Can we move on, please?" Hawkeye states calmly, as if the whole scene hadn't taken place before her.

I huff a little and cross my arms, pissed off with the whole thing. But if I wanna find Alphonse, I have to put up with it. These people are irritatin', sure, but I wont get anywhere in this case if I'm in prison, so I guess we should be workin' together. But I also can't shake the feelin' that Mustang and Hughes could actually be right about Al. What if he really is…? But then, who's this Alphonse that's been in the newspaper all this time? They specified an 'Alphonse', didn't they? Even if I am mistaken somehow, no one can deny that…

"So it's decided then. We stay here and gather information, then make a move when we think that we have a lead on this whole conspiracy. The homunculi should be chased, in the meantime." Mustang says, like a true leader.

Wait what, we're done now? Finally, let's go dammit. They begin to leave one by one, so as not to attract attention, and soon I'm left with Hughes and Mustang again. After Hawkeye leaves with a hard stare at me, she closes the large door and we're left in silence.

"That went well." Hughes grins. Mustang removes his head from it's place in his palms to look at him.

"Well it could have gone worse." He says cheerfully, "right Fullmetal?"

I scowl at the nickname, and he chuckles. What, am I goin' soft? People don't joke, smile, or _chuckle_ at me. They usually scream, cry, or run from me. That's how it should be, but I don't correct him, I guess killin' him later can solve all that imbalance, right? Well at least I can scare him when I want to. We exit the warehouse, and Mustang and Hughes take a moment to observe the raining sky, and I find myself doin' the same.

After a while, Hughes chuckles again, and says, "So, you're one of the Team now, huh? This should be interesting."

Pfft, yeah right jackass. I look to him to tell the smilin' fool just what I'm thinking, when Mustang surprises me by adding, "Yeah, I guess he is."

I'm left dumbfounded. Seriously, how the fuck did this happen? I don't say anythin' though. I guess I've realized that they need me to help with the legwork and alchemy, and I need them to provide information and keep me outta prison. I guess my own people weren't enough, they just took orders; no questions, no answers, no brain. At least Paninya, Dolcetto and the rest have been released. These guys all have their specialty though, and from what I've gathered, they're damn effective.

I shake my head from the thought of actually preferring this, but I still can't deny one thing; I do need this team.

* * *

**And on a final note, I hope this chapter was satisfactorily Elric-ish, as I haven't needed to get into his mind frame for a while now. I know it may seem a little pointless or uneventful, but I was aiming to introduce a sort of new 'era', and to end on a note that things have changed.**

**And additionally, thank you for the reviews, again! Really, they were awesome. But I realized after I read them that if I said who was closest in their guess, it would be obvious what would happen. So, sorry bout that XD But there were two who had a good idea, so I wont forget! Review!**


	8. Can You Live Without Order?

_Can You Live Without Order?_

When Warrant Officer Falman had suggested the team start investigating their theory for the country-wide transmutation circle, Mustang had counted on Elric to be there to help with the information search. He knew the teen didn't specifically have ties to his office, but he couldn't but feel a little annoyed when he pulls a disappearing act and doesn't make contact since. Mustang was already under scrutiny from the Fuhrer and with their suspicions of impending doom for their country, a single phone call would have sufficed, just to make sure Elric was really accepting being on their side. After everything they had come to agreements with, disappearing without a trace was not the best way to start this new formed 'alliance' the group shared with the thief.

Mustang was pondering these exact thoughts when the door burst open and a cheerful "Rooy~!" rang through his office. He sighed, not in the mood for Hughes' games at the moment. Although it had been a while since he had seen his friend this enthusiastic.

He didn't reply, but that wouldn't deter Hughes once he started ranting about the minor incidents involving his, somewhat spoiled, daughter. After a while of pure, white noise, Hughes suddenly changed tone, and next thing Mustang knew he was being consulted on a list of genocide victims in the Southern end of Central.

He quickly adjusted to the new conversation, and frowned as he listened to his description, "9 dead, 3 missing, but with the amount of blood they left behind, they wouldn't have made it far anyway." His brow was furrowed, but he lifted up a smile. "But there is good news, my friend."

Mustang eyed him warily. His experience with him forced Mustang to believe that 'good news' from Hughes, was not necessarily good news for Mustang.

He replied anyway, "And what might that be?" He carried on scratching his pen across the paper, while he glared down Havoc from across the room, who had just taken another attempt at starting up a cigarette.

"Elric caused a few of the murders". He grinned happily, probably not seeing a problem with what he had just yelled into an overtired Mustang's face.

"Wonderful", he stated.

"Sir, we should find him." Hawkeye turned her head towards them from her desk, a slightly impatient look in her eyes. Although he knew her reasons involved arresting Elric, he wanted to agree.

"That's not what I'm saying, this means he hasn't gone and disappeared on us after all." Hughes interjected.

"Hmph" He replied, standing suddenly and putting the pen down. He briskly walked form behind his desk and removed his jacket from the stand. "Let's go get the brat, then."

"You're going to arrest him?" Hughes said incredulously. Obviously this wasn't his intention, but Mustang was set regardless of Hughes' train of thought.

"The kid barely survives the collapse of a laboratory, and then a fight with a damned homunculi of all things, and vanishes. We don't hear a word from him, not one letter, not even a phone call for _two weeks, _and now he's making an appearance murdering citizens in the city that falls under our direct jurisdiction." He shrugs on his jacket, his face set in annoyance.

"Were you- are you _worried_ about him?" Hughes smirked.

"Don't patronize me, Maes, he's also taken in some valuable military secrets and killed innocent people. It's my duty to go arrest him." He strides across the room, the eyes of his team following his movements questioningly, waiting for a command. As if on cue, he turns around and nods firmly, then just states, "team", to which they rise and obediently pursue.

"Whatever you say, Roy." Hughes says, and takes off after his close friend.

* * *

They began at the crime scene. A suitable place to start tracking the thief, seeing as he seemed to have left quite a mess. The team were gathered around the wreckage, searching for any remnants of Elric, while the lab squints were still lingering on the bodies. They were at the city riverside, a market area with several stalls lining the streets and pathway.

They had separated 3 bodies from the other 6, isolating the victims of Elric's attack from the victims of a second killers attack. Mustang hovered over the pale body of a middle-aged man, his blank face no indication of the personality he once held with it. The man had been killed by a stab to the throat, but also suffered from multiple lacerations running down his front and legs. There were several deep cuts clustered together around his ankles, as if someone had been crawling near his feet and made stabs at his to bring the man down. Bruises decorated his skin deep blue and off-yellow, a sharp contrast to the dead grey that adorned his skin tone like a paper gown.

He was frozen there, unwilling eyes travelling the body of a man he knew Elric had murdered. It was only one out of three, but he couldn't bring his eyes to address the others. He felt naïve, stupid even, he had faced the victims of murderers before, what was so different this time? He knew why, and it only made him feel more ridiculous. He barely knew the kid, but when you force yourself to trust someone, even if only a little bit, it stung to have that thrown carelessly back into your face. He sighed. What had he expected? To have the kid never do- well, what he does? Why does he do this anyway? He hadn't known, had never wanted to question, but now all he wanted to do was ask.

There was so many things just _wrong_ with Elric, his brother aside.

"I kinda feel outdone, here."

He held his breath. It couldn't be, he couldn't be that stupid.

"I mean, I got three, but that bastard got six." A huff followed the words, and Mustang slowly drew his eyes up as a blonde teen sauntered over to the body he was examining. "This one took ages, he kept bloody runnin' away. Got him in the end, though." He snarled a grin, and Mustang shivered like he had the first time he met the psychopath before him.

Just so many things wrong.

"What…are you doing?" His voice was barely a horrified murmur, but the thief glanced up at the words.

"Have you never heard? The killer always returns to the scene of the crime. What you doin' here?"

"Arresting you!" He said, his anger swelling up from his previous disgust, and pulled on his gloves. The teen acted quickly, not a worry passing that disturbing face. He had moved himself directly in front of Mustang, snatching his glove and pulling him sharply to the right. From the shock of the boy's agility, he had been dragged into the nearby alley and slammed against the wall while Elric pocketed the gloves and glared.

Elric started, "Hold on a second, Roy-"

"Don't call me Roy, you monster," He spat. The teen horrified him, he couldn't deny it. He was too calm, too nonchalant about just killing innocent people.

"Me a monster? As I recall, the Hero of Ishval was the one who murdered, no, _culled_ thousand of innocents just for the sake of a job, just by following orders. Who's the real monster here, Hero?" He wasn't smiling, not even a smirk.

"You- you don't even care." he spluttered lamely, he couldn't even form his anger and disgust properly at the boy, without first abating his own anger and disgust at himself.

"Tch, what would you know, Dog." It wasn't a question, and Mustang slowly realized he wasn't being pinned anymore. The teen had already turned away, standing still while staring into nothing. He vaguely wondered what he was thinking about.

"Sir? Sir, I think we- Elric!" Havoc's voice turned into apprehension at the sight of the boy, and immediately drew his gun. Needless to say, Elric reacted badly, and pulled one of Mustang's gloves from his pocket and onto his hand. Before anyone could move, Elric snapped his fingers and a unrefined and unstable explosion destroyed the area around them, erratic fissures cracking the ground, the damage uneven and unpredictable. The three of them were thrown aside through the debris, and within seconds, the rest of Mustang's team had gathered around them.

Havoc was knocked out and lying in the shambles of the building beside them, Mustang was pulled onto his feet from pavement by Breda, and Elric was already handcuffed and slammed into a wall by Hawkeye. Elric wasn't struggling, just watching with mild interest while Hawkeye was still trying to gauge the damage caused to her superior.

Mustang staggered out of Breda's grip, and turned to stare wide-eyed at Elric. "You-"

"Sir, Havoc!" Fuery yelled frantically, pointing up at the building above them. The blast caused uneven damage to both building on each side, but the roof had remained intact, hanging dangerously and unsupported over the unconscious form of Jean Havoc. The wood creaked dangerously and bricks cascaded downwards as the structure slowly gave way. Mustang stood helplessly, too far and too weak to do anything, futility boiling inside and engulfing him with a cold, sick feeling.

* * *

"That fucking liar!"

"Chief, calm down, we didn't-"

"I'll rip is eyes out and feed 'em to him, that smug, stuck up, womanizing…" I'm probably bein' kinda brash, but if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a liar. And that's exactly what Mustang is.

Blood was still splattered, dried, across the prison cell above one of the scrawny lookin' beds. The bed itself was torn and even burnt, and the rest of cell looked no better, dark blood was plastered everywhere. They didn't even bother cleanin' it up, it must have been here for weeks. That _bastard_.

I was so pissed off, I didn't notice the blond boy on the other side of the bars, bein' lead by officers. They shoved him through and he stumbled and fell straight into me.

"Fuckin' moron, you- …Al?"

* * *

The barracks always stank of sweaty training clothes, but on a hot day like today the stench was almost suffocating. Or maybe it was the stress waiting to hear from the nurses about one of his most trusted subordinates that was making the situation hard to deal with.

"Worrying yourself half to death wont fix anything, Roy, just be patient." Hughes tried consoling him, sitting opposite, across the table of cards.

But, 'Roy'. That reminded him of that yellow-eyed monster. Or maybe he was a monster too. No, of course he was, but that boy has something undeniably wrong with him too.

"I know Maes", He said for the third time, avoiding eye contact with an equally distressed Hawkeye from next to him. The others were occupying themselves with a card game while they waited for the update on Havoc's status. The east barracks had become a sort of temporary safe haven over the past few weeks, serving as a place to discuss, and now it was conveniently equally close to the hospital as the HQ prison cells.

He still couldn't believe it. That boy Alphonse had appeared from nowhere and actually saved Havoc from the crumbling mess Elric had caused. Alphonse; A nefarious thief boss, Elric's equal, possibly Elric's brother. But why? There was plenty of time to question them both later, as they had both been arrested straight after Havoc had been rushed to hospital. But he couldn't keep the questions from forming in his mind despite his worry.

He sighed. That's all Elric and Alphonse seem to be; a worry and a nuisance.

"Sir, I think I hear the wall cracking." Fuery was frowning at the wall behind Hughes, and now that the conversation had ceased, Mustang thought he could hear it too. Long, deep cracks formed in the yellowing paint, and split even further along the wall, until a loud crash completely demolished the concrete. Chunks of rubble flew everywhere, but avoiding the side of the barracks that held their table. Bricks collapsed and destroyed rows of beds, and the piping burst water and flooded the room. Concrete broke the furniture and the opposing wall, which also caused part of the ceiling next to them to crack and fall onto the equipment and washing facilities adjacent. The table and it's occupants remained unharmed, and all but one turned to see two gold demons stepping through the raised dust, the shorter of the two growled ominously.

"Now I can't help but think something's bothering ya, kid." Hughes chirped as he carried on dealing another round of cards, white powder layering his hair, his clothes, and the table.

"Don't joke with me, asshole!" Elric yelled, his angry face startling the members of the table that were not quite familiar with the abrasive teen yet.

Mustang stood, "What the hell are the two of you doing out of prison!" Hawkeye pulled out her gun, and Elric pulled out two of his own.

"Wait, brother! Let me explain!" The similar-looking Elric tried, but it fell on deaf ears as Elric and Hawkeye proceeded to rain fire on each other. The team ducked under the table for cover, and the other blond boy had ducked on the floor. It took a few minutes for both parties to realize neither was hitting, and neither were aiming to hit.

"Dammit, stop fucking shooting!" Mustang yelled coarsely, resorting to the same foul language he chastised Elric for. Hawkeye obeyed, stiffly lowering her arms and putting her Colt model away. But Elric still held his arms in place, M1911 aimed directly at the glaring Lieutenant's narrowed wine-coloured eyes.

"Ed?" Al squeaked, crouching beside him.

"Stop calling me Ed you scrawny shit." Elric spat, shoving the guns back in the makeshift holsters on his hips, still staring down the officer standing a few metres away. The boy smiled up at him, his dirty face holding no hostility.

Shouts and running feet were echoing around the street and the open barracks, Elric and the boy jumped off the wreckage and walked towards the group surrounded by the chaos.

"Elric. Are. You. _Insane?_" Mustang hissed between gritted teeth, still shell-shocked. His team had come out from under the table and Hughes whistled at the mess, almost unfazed.

"Sir, officers are approaching, what do you want to do?" Falman questioned, brushing bits of concrete from his uniform, now ruined for the second time that day.

"What do I want to do?" Mustang breathed, almost losing it, "What I want to do, is kill that damn pipsqueak and string him up by his ankles!"

"I'm not a pipsqueak, bastard!" Elric yelled back, attracting the attention of stunned pedestrians. Some pedestrians were braver than others, apparently, and a voice called out from the other side of the pile of rubble.

"Is that the great thief, Edward Elric? I've been looking everywhere for you!" A squeaky girl's voice called excitedly, and a second voice chimed in- a male, "I hope he has some money, I'm starving." Another voice added, "Young master, you should request a feast for your visit."

"All right everyone calm down" Mustang yelled erratically, clearly not calm, "Just get the hell out of here!"

Elric continued glaring, Al looked lost, and the foreign voices said "Does he mean us, too?"

Regardless, Elric shrieked at Mustang, "I don't think so bastard, you lied to me." His hands were balled into fists, and he was almost spitting fire.

"Ed, we can meet them later-" Al started quietly.

"Oh, piss off! I don't know who the hell you are, but-"

He cut him off in turn, "I'm Alphonse, brother, I keep telling you." His eyes were desperate and hurt, and Mustang was getting a headache just watching it all.

He put his head in a hand as officers reached the second wreckage Elric had caused that day. Quickly, he grabbed the two boys and handcuffed them, then shoved them into the arms of Breda and Hawkeye, and stalked off out of the only door still standing. They followed, escorting the boys away before the other officers could arrest them.

"Where are we going, sir?" Al said politely, while Elric bristled in anger at his voice.

"Shut up." He said, before Mustang could answer. The two teens looked at the tall back of the Colonel, with two completely different expressions of their faces.

He was leading the team, Breda guided Alphonse and Hawkeye pushed Elric, while Falman and Fuery flanked their sides. They were coming into the more occupied areas of HQ, and soldiers were staring and pointedly clearing the way for them, some gaping openly.

"Were going to see Havoc, and there, the two of you will explain everything to us all, or so help me I will have you both executed in the city square with fireworks and celebration to follow."

"Oh, can we come too? I hope there's food." A happy male voice chirped, and Fuery jumped a mile when he noticed three people had joined their patrol by his side completely without his noticing.

"Why not? Invite the flaming circus, too." Mustang didn't even turn around, and Falman exchanged looks with Hawkeye.

"Great. My name's Ling, this is Lan Fan, and the twerp is called Fay or something."

"May!" A voice replied, and a shrill animal squeak followed her words.

The group continued this way for a while, and Havoc could not have been administered enough morphine in the hospital to put up with the scene that ambushed his room. He stared helplessly at them all from his hospital bed, and Hughes chuckled heartily. The team were all covered in white dust and bits of concrete, while Elric and the other boy were caked in dirt, and three Xingese individuals were chattering and inspecting everything. The nurse that was changing Havoc's bandages edged carefully around the group and slammed the door on the way out, clearly terrified.

Mustang and turned to them all and said sternly, "Right, I think it's time we sort this out."

And there was a _lot_ to sort out.

* * *

**This didn't come out the way I intended it to, but I think the main points are still there. Yes, Ling, Lan Fan and May are finally introduced, but I'm not entirely certain on their personalities so If I mess it up (or anyone for that matter) pease feel free to point it out. I think some of the characters came out sort of British? I don't know. I'm English so I can't help but imagine everyone's voices with the same accent as me, even if I know they're American, but it might be coming out in the dialogue too XD**

**Thank you for reviewing, people, I appreciate it muchly indeed. I'll be updating more now, and I mean it this time, because I've finished Tales of Symphonia and almost finished Dawn of the New World. I need to keep up with the writing and whatnot. **

**On another note, but still slightly relevant, I'm making a film with my friends and I've been given the job of writing it's plot in story form. I might also adapt it to FMA, but I don't know yet. It wont be AU, and if I do post I hope you will read! It's only a one-shot, as the the film we're making is just a short 15 minute thing with no characters at all. Thank you and goodbye! Please review, I'll update faster, I swear!**


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